INT: Sylvain White

It was bound to happen and its happening straight to DVD on August 1, 2006
(buy it here). I Know What You Did
Last Summer 3 i.e. I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer will be
soon be upon us with a new cast, a stand alone story and a new Hook
dude (Don Shanks, who played Michael in H5, replaces Muse
Watson).

I had the chance at yapping with its director SYLVAIN WHITE
(Who helmed the award winning short QUIET with cousin Chris White)
about the film, and here's what he had to say! He actually gave me
"some" hope that it might be halfway decent, at least visually.
Here's Sylvain!

Director Sylvain White on the "Always Know" set!

What
would you say are some of your favorite horror movies?

Suspiria, The Ring, The Exorcist, Nightmare on Elm Street 3.

You
recently helmed I Know What You Did Last Summer 3, how did the gig come
about?

I
was called in at the very last minute, after a referral from Sony Studios,
for whom I had directed my first feature.

I
guess you wouldn't
you say that you had lots of prep time before hitting production?

Because I was called in so late, I basically had 2 weeks of preparation. On
average, films this size get about 8 to 10 weeks of prep. I basically cast
and scouted locations from scratch in a week. I also had never worked with
anybody on this crew before, but they turned out to be a fun team to work
with.

Did
you watch the first two films before running with this third one?

Yep.

The Fisherman is up to his old tricks again!

How
would you describe the shoot? A battle or somewhat smooth?

Pretty smooth for this kind of battle, considering the scale, short prep,
the night-shoot element, and the freezing temperatures in this mountainous
location. Especially when the film is suppose to take place on July 4th,
and we’re shooting through October at a ski resort, with changing leaves and
seasons everywhere you look. But still fun overall. Loved doing all the gore
and deaths scenes the most I must admit.

Does
the film reference the first two films at all or is it purely a ‘stand
alone”.

It
does reference them, but lightly. Nevertheless, it stands on it’s own, with
a new mythical structure.

Did
you have any input on the screenplay within the time frame you had?

I
did a quick a pass on it, but it was basically adapting it to the locations.

How can he see his victims in that thing?

How
gory is the film and what will be its rating? I’ve heard different things
from various sources “R” or maybe “PG 13”.

It’s very gory in my director’s cut. Depending on how and to whom it’s
distributed and promoted, they will take more or less gore out of the cut to
fit the target rating. So I dunno yet.

Did
you opt for practical versus CG effects or a bit of both?

All
practical, although I’ve been used to a lot of CG on other projects I have
shot, I really wanted to go raw with this one. All the gore is practical
without exception. It just looks more real, period.

What
we’re you aiming for visually with the film? What kind of aesthetics can we
expect?

Very different than the other two. The whole feel of this film is a bit punk
rock, from the music to the aggressive cutting and the flavor of some of the
characters. So in turn, the visuals are very edgy, but the tone is still a
bit bubble gum like the previous two movies.

When a Fisherman calls!

You
also have a non horror related project in the works called “Steppin’”
starring the great Angela Basset, Meagan Good, and R&B artist Neyo. What can
you tell us about the picture? Where is it at?

Just completed principal. This film is a ground breaker in terms of dance
films. I’ve shot it so dynamically, I’ve surprised myself. I believe it will
become a classic. I’m very proud of it so far. The plot may sound a bit
cheesy, etc… but it actually is not… and the dancing is truly amazing. I
basically had the best dancers in the country, under the reigns of the best
choreographer, and NO DANCE DOUBLES, which is somewhat of a first. Lookout!

You’re
cousins with writer/director Chris White. You guys teamed up on the award
winning short QUIET (you directed and Chris wrote it). So are you at all
involved with Chris's project The Last Stop? I personally loved his
screenplay and the5
minutes demo clip he did for it!

I’ve been following Last Stop since the beginning. The original idea
actually came out of a convo Chris and I had over the phone, just like for
our short film Quiet. He is so creative, I may have a sketch of an idea and
he’ll just make it flourish like no one else could. He is truly a genius and
a prolific one too. I feel privileged to be able to give him feedback on his
projects whenever he asks me too. We always have tons of ideas together and
look forward to putting more of them on the big screen.

What
was the first drink that you consumed at the IKWYDLS 3 wrap party?